Gwalior: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah asserted that Madhya Pradesh is poised to emerge as a major hub for small, medium, and cottage industries, thanks to its low operational costs and proactive policies.
He cited record registrations of over 457,000 MSME units in a single year, positioning Madhya Pradesh as an MSME leader in India.
Addressing industrialists at the “Abhyudaya Madhya Pradesh Growth Summit,” where he laid foundation stones for 1,655 industrial units involving investments over Rs 2 lakh crore and projected to create nearly 193,000 jobs, HM Shah highlighted the state’s transformation under the BJP’s double-engine government.
HM Shah praised Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s innovative regional industrial conclaves, a balanced approach pioneered beyond the structured initiatives started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He noted that this model of equitable development across divisions would benefit local communities immensely and serve as an example for other states.
Once labelled “Bimaru” under previous Congress regimes like Digvijay Singh’s, Madhya Pradesh shed that tag during Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s tenure and is now accelerating toward developed status, HM Shah said.
The Home Minister pointed to Madhya Pradesh’s advantages, including the lowest input costs for metro operations and a shift from power deficit to surplus.
He emphasised symmetrical industrial growth to capitalise on the state’s geography, reviving traditional sectors like cotton in Malwa and Gwalior-Chambal regions through local processing units.
On national achievements, HM Shah announced that India’s foreign exchange reserves have surpassed 700 billion US dollars, reflecting economic strength. The country now manufactures and exports semiconductors, produces 60 per cent of global vaccines, and ranks second in mobile phone production.
Digital prowess was evident with 99 crore broadband users, nearly all on 4G and transitioning to 5G, alongside India handling half the world’s digital transactions.
In August alone, transactions worth Rs 25 lakh crore numbered 2,000 crore. Infrastructure leaps included “Ease of Doing Business” ranking improving from 142 to 63, highways expanding from 90,000 km to 1.5 lakh km, airports growing from 74 to 163, railway electrification from 22,000 km to 68,000 km, and metro cities from five to 23.
Over 214,000 panchayats now have optical fibre connectivity, while the number of Vande Bharat trains has increased from zero to 164, with manufacturing soon set to start in Madhya Pradesh.
HM Shah also lauded the state’s agricultural excellence, having won the Krishi Karman Award seven consecutive times, and the upcoming multi-modal logistics park, which is expected to attract more investments.
The summit, themed “Nivesh Se Rozgar — Atal Sankalp, Ujjawal Madhya Pradesh (Investment to Employment – Atal’s Resolve, a Bright Madhya Pradesh) paid tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary, reinforcing commitments to self-reliance and inclusive growth.
(IANS)
